Branna (McCarty) Shores

It’s a wrap! (well, almost). We made it to our final month of 2025. The turkey’s not even cold and we seamlessly survived the “Twelve-Month Tease,” also known as “Black Friday.” Analogous to the green flag waving at the Indy 500, department store doors fling open early the day after Thanksgiving, and as declared at yet another race-to-the-finish: “And…

Actress and artist Joyce Giraud said it best: “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.” And as anyone who knows me well will attest,…

It’s month number 10 and time to turn again to the mystical, magical mind frame of fun, fright and frolic. This happy haunting was originally thought to have originated in 4000 B.C., however, Halloween as we know it actually evolved from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated approximately 2,000 years ago, not…

What’s more paramount than politics right now? It’s the great pumpkin debate! Whether you’re pro or con, love ‘em or loathe ‘em, ‘tis the season of the incessant surge of the great orange squash. Eighty percent of the U.S.’s pumpkin crop is available during October, making its observance obligatory. This curious cucurbit is known by many names and…

Before I wander into this week’s whirl of wonder, let it be known that we, in this United States, have a fond fascination with footwear. So, let’s take a sneak peek into the sanctity of sneakers, slippers and all other sensational shoes and the obsession surrounding them! As far back as I can remember, the…

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am the ultimate, often indulgent, word nerd.  I pray not to appear as a fopdoodle,  making idle claptrack. Oops, there I go again! While we are bringing back the vestige of vintage clothing, why not revisit the vocabulary of days gone by? For those of you not…

Love’em or hate ‘em, pickles have a pertinent place in America and beyond.  The stats state that the average American packs away 8.5 pounds of pickles a year and Midwesterners are driving the trend. It’s time to realize the relevance of this requisite relish!  The prevalence of the pickle dates back many decades, even centuries. Cleopatra…

Crayons.  I credit Crayola for creating my craze for collecting. In the 1960s, Crayola crayons were a popular and affordable item, with boxes containing 8, 16 or 24 crayons, starting at a paltry price of 19 cents. The brand also introduced a built-in sharpener to the box of 64 crayons, which launched in 1958 –…

There was a time, in the words of John Denver, I would say “Country roads … take me home.” However, have you driven through Hamilton County lately?! Retailers, regal housing and roundabouts have replaced the rugged roads to my original nest in Noblesville. As we all know, Nob City has flourished since its days as…

The word fall has new meaning as I approach my 67th birthday.  What used to signal back-to-school sales and the turning of leaves now represents the risk of breaking a hip. “Taking a trip” doesn’t necessarily mean heading to Brown County anymore. This is my ode to getting older, my friends. Yes, I see things through…